Updated 23 August 2019
The Surgery, Wheatley Hill is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide urgent care services. The service provides an extended GP access service from the following locations;
- Peterlee Primary Care Service, Peterlee Health Centre, Bede Way, Peterlee, SR8 1AD
- Newton Aycliffe Primary Care Service, Jubilee Medical Practice, Cobblers Hall Surgery, Carers Way, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 4SE
- Seaham Primary Care Service, Marlborough Medical Practice, Seaham Primary Care Centre, St John’s Square, Seaham, SR7 7JE
- Sedgefield Primary Care Service, Harbinson House, Front Street, Sedgefield, TS21 3BN
- Spennymoor Primary Care Service, St Andrew’s Medical Practice, Sensier House, St Andrew’s Lane, Spennymoor, DL16 6QA
We visited Peterlee and Newton Aycliffe Primary Care Service and we visited the administrative base at The Surgery, Wheatley Hill as part of this inspection.
The provider of this service is South Durham Health Community Interest Company, which is a federation of 18 GP practices in the South Durham area.
The extended access service which the federation provides are located in existing GP practices and use their staff and accommodation. The exception to this is Peterlee Health Centre where the service has its own dedicated consulting rooms and waiting area.
The service directly employs three permanent staff, the chief executive, business manager and administrator. Other staff who work in the service are mostly employed by the member services of the provider’s federation. The services use locum staff when necessary.
The service provides extended GP access appointments via;
- NHS 111 service – booked face to face.
- GP practices in the locality.
- Telephone triage booked by NHS 111 (also known as warm transfers).
The service is led by advanced nurse practitioners who are non-medical prescribers, with support from a GP on call. The times this is provided are as follows:
- Spennymoor and Sedgefield, 6 to 8pm Monday to Friday and weekends and bank holidays 8am to 1pm;
- Newton Aycliffe is as above with an ad hoc overflow 8am to 6pm;
- Peterlee and Seaham are open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and weekends and bank holidays 8am to 1pm.
The service for patients requiring urgent medical care outside of these and the GP Surgery hours is provided by the Out of Hours Service which is accessed via NHS 111